Philips Avent goes ‘natural’ with new bottle

STAMFORD, Conn. — Philips Avent has expanded its bottle portfolio to include a new product that is designed to replicate natural feeding.

With its wide, breast-shaped nipple and unique comfort petals, the Philips Avent Natural bottle is inspired by mom’s shape to allow infants to feed more naturally. The bottle encourages natural latch-on and makes it easier to combine bottle and breast-feeding, and also features an advanced anti-colic system with two high performance valves that help to reduce colic by venting air into the bottle, not the baby’s stomach.

The Natural bottle is BPA-free and made of polypropylene and glass. The new Natural Bottle is compatible with the entire Philips Avent infant feeding range and only uses the Natural nipples, which are available in newborn, slow, medium and fast flow varieties.

"Philips Avent understands infant feeding needs on the most intimate level because we involve moms and their babies at the earliest phase of the product development process," Philips Avent marketing director Ron Tiktin said. "The insights we’ve collected are unmistakable in the new Natural bottle, our biggest launch in the history of the brand, and deliver on our on our promise to give babies the best start in life."

Philips Avent Natural glass bottles, available in 4-oz. and 8-oz. sizes, retails for $9.99 per 1-pack. Philips Avent Natural polypropylene bottles, available in 4-oz. and 9-oz. sizes, retails for $8.49 per 1-pack.

As part of the launch, Philips Avent is partnering with Rosie Pope, star of Bravo TV’s "Pregnant in Heels." Pope will host a live Twitter chat with Philips Avent on June 20 at 8 p.m. "I love working with new and expecting parents — and introducing them to the latest and greatest products on the market," Pope said.

Community Specialty Pharmacy Network partners with CoverMyMeds

TWINSBURG, Ohio — A community specialty network has teamed up with a company that helps doctors and pharmacies submit prior authorizations and other coverage determination forms for medications.

The Community Specialty Pharmacy Network said it has partnered with CoverMyMeds to automate the prior authorization process. CoverMyMeds will provide CSPN’s specialty pharmacists the right PA request for every drug and health insurance plan, allowing pharmacists to easily complete and share with the prescriber PA forms at the point of a claim rejection, the companies said.

"CoverMyMeds is a very valuable service for the CSPN membership," CSPN VP industry relations Nick Calla said. "It has proven to be a great aid for a number of our pharmacies in working through the complicated prior authorization processes used by many managed care plans."

CoverMyMeds said pharmacies can benefit from the streamlined PA process by signing up for PriorAuthPlus powered by CoverMyMeds. PriorAuthPlus is a collaboration solution from RelayHealth and CoverMyMeds, used by thousands of retail pharmacies nationwide, which easily initiates the PA process within the pharmacist’s workflow as the prescription claim is being processed. In five minutes or less, prescribers can complete a PA form and submit it for prescriber review. The standard process can take upward of 30 minutes, CoverMyMeds noted.

"Our partnership with CSPN helps pharmacies provide an even better level of service to their patients," CoverMyMeds VP national health plans Ron Fine said. "CSPN also will be able to provide assistance to the doctors they work with by giving them the right Prior Authorization form in a timely way. Combined with the nationwide PriorAuthPlus network used by retail pharmacies, this partnership expands the streamlined PA process to more physicians and pharmacists with the ultimate goal of ensuring patients receive their prescribed medications to improve their health."

Lawsuit calls Hebrew National’s kosher claims into question

OMAHA, Neb. — A class action lawsuit recently was filed against ConAgra Foods for claiming that its Hebrew National products are kosher, the company confirmed.

Hebrew National, a more-than-100-year-old brand known for its hot dogs and other packaged products, has touted kosher status since its establishment, ConAgra Foods said, who added that this lawsuit "is without merit."

"Hebrew National’s kosher status is certified by a well-recognized and authorized third-party," ConAgra Foods said in a statement. "There is close rabbinical supervision of the food preparation process and packaging equipment. For more than 100 years, Hebrew National has followed strict dietary law, using only specific cuts of beef that meet the highest standards for quality, cleanliness, and safety with no by-products, artificial flavors, or artificial colors."

According to a recent Mintel research, more than one-quarter of new food and beverage products introduced in 2011 touted a kosher on-package claim.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Peggy Noonan, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and singer Diana Ross now feature on the schedule for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Annual Meeting, slated for April 21-24 in Palm Beach, Fla.

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